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The new book centers on protagonists seeking fresh starts, attempting to leave behind drugs or toxic relationships, only to witness hope devolve into violence. Kraus often employs the phrase "new beginning", making it intentionally weary through its repetitions. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the text. And yet, the author herself appears to be undertaking her individual reinvention, because this presents as a novel form of writing – fact-based, genuinely novelistic. However it proves to be packed with the recurring issues and approaches as earlier books.

From Unplanned Author to Iconic Work

Kraus started out as an creative who entered the literary world somewhat by chance with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, converting intimate women's literature from abjection into rebellion. She kept producing books, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the epistolary style infused into the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a renegade artist who had evolved into a major property owner, so there was much discussion on property transactions. It makes sense that she presently aims to experiment with new kinds of material, turning outward to the experiences of others, at a moment when she asserts that current political era renders personal narrative unnecessary.

Multiple Generations, One Unescapable Past

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, encompassing several time periods – none able to break free from their histories. There is the tale of a couple named Emma and Jasper, versions of her own mother and father, transitioning from the Bronx to the Connecticut countryside. There is the story of Kraus herself, in the character of protagonist Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse her husband Paul. Finally the narrative of a homicide of one directionless individual by another in a locality long abandoned by forward-thinking policies only a short distance from the protagonist's home in rural Minnesota.

As a reader fond of honed writing of the type the author herself often avoids, I was captivated by the narrative style of the opening part.

Being a reader drawn to precise prose of the variety that Kraus tends to eschew, I was seduced by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It possesses a fresh level of observation that makes room for small details, like the pail that the youthful Catt dislodges from ice at the opening of the book, aided by her beloved father. "I found an ice toy!" she declares; "a lovely toy", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like hard candy". She tells Emma's story with interest and closeness. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not hers, exactly."

Disappointment and Disjunction

I was fated to feel let down when I wished this different style could persist to the end. The author states here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have derived from I Love Dick; she's committed to fragmentation, to the unpolished style she shares with her inspiration author Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works returns in the central part. The protagonist is working on refurbishing 36 run-down apartments in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while shuttling between Minnesota and LA, unsuccessful in assisting Paul curb his addiction. She experiences powerlessness as Paul cycles through poorly supported positions as an substance abuse counselor in a world fueled by the anger and fear that powers Trump's victory. There are several pages about Catt being cancelled on a platform, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. In a moment she says that she's looking into the killing so that before departing the state, "she may grasp something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would be unable to grasp, would not even see".

The Killing Story

Thus we arrive to the actual killing – and the referenced day experienced by the deceased with the killer and his friends. The author possesses excellent raw material, and details moment by moment what happened when Brandon came to see Brittney after meeting her on an app where she marketed explicit images. He sought a sexual encounter but seems amiably to have occupied the day with her companions, wandering about having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being killed by gunfire by Brittney's boyfriend a man named Micah – a youth with psychological issues who has repeatedly received inpatient care for aggressive outbursts.

Preoccupation and Open Ends

Catt gets obsessed by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that her twin drives towards accurate chronicling and reckless transgression tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to delve deeper into her own obsessions here. The standout figure is Brittney, who becomes vivid in part due to Catt seeing herself in her – another bright, bullied girl spiraling out of control in a troubled, forgotten town. Kraus notes that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The complete segment feels strangely incomplete, to the point that Kraus's narration ends almost mid-par